A thief has been sentenced to three years and one day in prison for stealing €1.48 from a petrol station in Huelva.
The offence took place on October 21, 2024, when the man forced his way into the business on Avenida Cristobal Colon at around 2.30am.
Once inside, he tampered with the computer system and cash register, where he found only €1.48 in coins, which he took.
He was arrested shortly afterwards and returned the stolen money to the owner, who did not seek any compensation.
However, the court found him guilty of robbery with force in premises open to the public outside business hours, with the aggravating factor of repeat offending.
As a result, the judge rejected any suspension of the prison sentence, meaning the custodial term must be served.
While the amount stolen in this case was minimal, the ruling comes amid wider concerns about thefts at petrol stations. Industry estimates suggest service stations in Spain lose around €200 million a year to both recorded and unrecorded thefts, including cash thefts and fuel fraud by customers.
To counter the problem, petrol stations are believed to invest more than €150 million annually in security measures.
